Now that is a big ship!

From the Puget Sound Business Journal:

After intense training, Puget Sound Pilots steer ship the size of a skyscraper into Elliott Bay
One of the world’s largest ocean carriers – the largest ship to ever call in the Western hemisphere – docked this morning about 8:25 a.m. at Seattle’s Terminal 18. Four Foss tugboats guided it into port.

For the Puget Sound Pilots, this was also a first. The pilots, who have been training to prepare for the ship's arrival, boarded the giant cargo ship in the waters off Ediz Hook in Port Angeles, to pilot the ship into its spot at Terminal 18, the largest container facility in the Pacific Northwest.

The trip in went well. "It's a beautiful ship,, " said Captain David Grobschmit, presidnet of PUget Sound Pilots (PSP) from on board. "Keep bringing 'em in," he said. "The guys (two of the PSP pilots) did an excellent job. Flawless."

He said there were no tense moments. "We're mariners," he said proudly. "We get up there on the bridge and we're at home."

The CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, a 1,300-foot ship — longer than the Empire State building and wider than an NFL football field — came into Puget Sound waters about 3 a.m., traveling from China where it is based. The ship first stopped in Long Beach and Oakland before heading up to Seattle.

While the ship is capable of carrying 18,000 20-foot containers, it is carrying 12,877 containers as it heads into port here, having unloaded the rest in the California ports of call.

It was the 200,000 ton mega-container ship’s second voyage since it was built last year. Its inaugural voyage was just a few weeks ago to Los Angeles and Long Beach.

They used a simulator to train for this ship. I have seen photos of these - very realistic.